Discerning God's Voice in Dreams and Imagination
Throughout biblical history, God has communicated with humanity through various means, including dreams and visions. The Scriptures indicate that God's influence can extend to a person's thoughts, whether they are awake or asleep [1].
Dreams are frequently mentioned in the Old Testament as a vehicle for divine revelation. God made his will known through dreams to figures such as Jacob (Genesis 28:12; 31:10), Laban (Genesis 31:24), Joseph (Genesis 37:9-11), Gideon (Judges 7), and Solomon (1 Kings 3:5) [3]. Other significant dreams include those of Abimelech (Genesis 20:3-7), Pharaoh's butler and baker (Genesis 40:5), Pharaoh himself (Genesis 41:1-8), Nebuchadnezzar (Daniel 2:1; 4:10, 18), the wise men (Matthew 2:12), and Pilate's wife (Matthew 27:19) [3]. Numbers 12:6 explicitly states, "If there is a prophet among you, I, Yahweh, will make myself known to him in a vision. I will speak with him in a dream" [5]. These were not always common natural dreams but often extraordinary, divine, and prophetic, where individuals might have full use of their reasoning powers and be under divine impressions [7, 8].
However, the Bible also distinguishes between genuine divine dreams and those that are merely products of human imagination or false prophecy. Ecclesiastes 5:3 notes that "the dream comes through the greatness of the task," suggesting that some dreams arise from daily concerns [4, 6]. False prophets sometimes claimed to have dreams from God when they were merely speaking from their own minds [9, 10]. Jeremiah 23:28 advises that if a prophet has a dream, "let him tell a dream," implying it should be presented as a dream and not necessarily a direct revelation from the Lord [9]. Deuteronomy 13:1-3 warns against prophets or dreamers who give signs or wonders but then lead people to follow other gods [2, 6].
Under the Christian dispensation, while trances and visions are frequently mentioned, dreams are not referred to as vehicles of divine revelation in the same way as in the Old Testament [1]. The apostle Paul, in 1 Corinthians 14:15, places dreams, where the understanding is asleep, below prophetic visions, where the understanding is active [1]. This suggests a shift in the primary modes of divine communication.
Sources
- Smith's Bible Dictionary “Smith's Bible Dictionary: Dreams — The Scripture declares that the influence of the Spirit of God upon the soul extends to its sleeping as well as its waking thoughts. But, in accordance with the principle enunciated by St. Paul in (1 Corinthians 14:15) dreams, in which the understanding is asleep, are placed below the visions of prophecy, in which the understanding plays its part. Under the Christian dispensation, while we read frequently of trances and vision, dreams are never referred to as vehicles of divine revelation. In exact accordance with this principle are the actual records of the ”
- Deuteronomy “If a prophet or a dreamer of dreams arises in your midst you, and he gives you a sign or a wonder, -- Deuteronomy 13:1”
- Easton's Bible Dictionary “Easton's Bible Dictionary: Dream — God has frequently made use of dreams in communicating his will to men. The most remarkable instances of this are recorded in the history of Jacob (Gen. 28:12; 31:10), Laban (31:24), Joseph (37:9-11), Gideon (Judg. 7), and Solomon (1 Kings 3:5). Other significant dreams are also recorded, such as those of Abimelech (Gen. 20:3-7), Pharaoh's chief butler and baker (40:5), Pharaoh (41:1-8), the Midianites (Judg. 7:13), Nebuchadnezzar (Dan. 2:1; 4:10, 18), the wise men from the east (Matt. 2:12), and Pilate's wife (27:19). To Joseph "the Lord appeared in a dream,”
- Ecclesiastes “Ecclesiastes 5:3 (LITV) — For the dream comes through the greatness of the task; and the voice of the fool is known by the multitude of words.”
- Numbers “He said, “Now hear my words. If there is a prophet among you, I, Yahweh, will make myself known to him in a vision. I will speak with him in a dream. -- Numbers 12:6”
- Torrey's Topical Textbook “Torrey's Topical Textbook: Dreams — Visions in sleep -- Job 33:15; Da 2:28. Often by imaginary -- Job 20:8; Isa 29:8. Excess of business frequently leads to -- Ec 5:3. God's will often revealed in -- Nu 12:6; Job 33:15. False prophets Pretended to. -- Jer 23:25-28; 29:8. Not to be regarded in. -- De 13:1-3; Jer 27:9. Condemned for pretending to. -- Jer 23:32. Vanity of trusting to natural -- Ec 5:7. The ancients Put great faith in. -- Jdj 7:15. Often perplexed by. -- Ge 40:6; 41:8; Job 7:14; Da 2:1; 4:5. Anxious to have, explained. -- Ge 40:8; Da 2:3. Consulting magicians on. -- Ge 41:8; Da 2:”
- 1 Kings (Baptist/Reformed) “John Gill on 1 Kings 3:5: In Gibeon the Lord appeared to Solomon in a dream by night,.... This was not a common natural dream, but an extraordinary, divine, and supernatural one, a prophetic dream, a night vision, such as God used to speak in to his prophets; in which he had the full use of his reasoning powers, was under divine impressions, and in a spiritual frame of mind, and in the exercise of grace; it was not a mere dream that the Lord did appear to him, but he really did appear to him while sleeping and dreaming, by some display of his glory in some way or another: and God said, ask w”
- Job (Baptist/Reformed) “John Gill on Job 33:15: In a dream, in a vision of the night,.... That is, God speaks to men in this way, and which in those times was his most usual way; see Job 4:12; sometimes he spake to a prophet, a person in public office, and made known his mind and will in this manner to him, that he might deliver it to others, Num 12:6; and sometimes directly and immediately to persons themselves, as he did to Abimelech and Laban, Gen 20:3; when deep sleep lieth upon men, in slumberings upon the bed; the former denotes a fast, heavy, and sound sleep, when the senses are all locked up, and there is n”
- Jeremiah (Baptist/Reformed) “John Gill on Jeremiah 23:28: The prophet that hath a dream, let him tell a dream,.... These words are directed not to a true prophet of the Lord, that has a dream from him, or something communicated to him in a dream by the Lord, which he is to deliver as such; but to a false prophet, that says he has dreamed; and if he has dreamed a dream, let him tell it as a "dream" (l); so some supply it, as the fruit of his own roving fancy and imagination in sleep; and not call it a revelation from the Lord, and impose it upon the people as such. The Septuagint version is, "let him tell his dream"; let h”
- Jeremiah (Baptist/Reformed) “John Gill on Jeremiah 23:25: I have heard what the prophets said, that prophesy lies in my name,.... Or, "I hear what the prophets say" (g), &c. though they thought God was at a distance from them, in the highest heavens, and neither saw, nor heard, nor took any notice of what was done on earth, they were greatly mistaken; he heard and observed with indignation the false doctrines and lying prophecies which they delivered out in his name to the people, whether in public or in private; for he is the Lord God omniscient and omnipresent; and therefore, though they deceived the people, they could ”